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A Gift, Wrapped In A Gift
By gartenfische | April 28, 2008
Halfway through practice at Mysore class yesterday, an epiphany flung itself into my consciousness (now this is not going to sound epiphanic to you because it is not yours, but believe me, it was): Yoga is a gift. Yes, that’s it: Yoga is a gift.
It wasn’t a mere thought; we have thoughts all the time along these lines. What made it epiphany? It originated from deep inside, not from the logical mind. It rose up and bonked me on the head (gently). Yoohoo! Hey you in the black pants and lavender top: Pay attention! Yes, I knew instantly, without a doubt, that it was True and it was Important.
Well so what? you might say. Indeed, so what? Well this is what: If yoga is a gift, then a) it is not a chore b) it is not a means to get here or there—like feeling good, or a better body, and c) I must be continually grateful for the practice.
For me, it changes everything. I must have been harboring some subconscious ideas about what yoga was about (see the ABCs, above). I wouldn’t have said I looked at yoga in so shallow and thankless a manner, but I did. I realized that, as a gift, it was given to me and not earned by me.
The time I have at this point in my life to devote to yoga is a gift. Many of my friends, especially those with children at home, have to work to find time for yoga between family and work duties (for instance, a couple of my friends couldn’t come to class yesterday because they had to attend soccer games; one had to work). The body I have that is healthy and able to practice a type of yoga that is strenuous is a gift. The friends I am blessed to practice with are a gift. Online buddies who support my practice are a gift. The teachers who guide me are a gift. The practice, developed by Pattabhi Jois, is a gift. It is all, all, all gift.
After class, I felt so uplifted and awesomely wonderful—like I always do after a Mysore class, only more so. What a beautiful gift I was given.
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Dear friends, over at wyrdbyrd I wrote about a difficult episode in my life. It’s called A Story of Injustice (Mostly) And Justice (A Little). Please read it, comment if you feel inclined.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Garten — this is just lovely. I don’t do yoga (though you are tempting me to consider it) but it may also be applied to other areas of our lives: to consider (for example) LIFE, walking the dog (and other dog-related chores), family, knitting — as gifts, rather than chores.
It reminds me of a conversation with Bible study participations. salvation is a gift, I say. And they say, “but don’t we “HAVE TO” accept it? makes it sound like a chore, doesn’t it?
ah, I’ll be thinking the rest of the day of God’s gifts….
April 28th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Garten, what a gift to realize this. Like Diane, I don’t do yoga, but am intrigued by your love for it. If one could view each aspect of life as gift, what a difference life would be! Remember how Meister Eckhart said that if the only prayer you ever said was “Thank you” that that is enough. Thank you, Garten.
Also, thank you for all your wonderful comments over at my blog today. I love it when you visit me.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Diane and Jan, Yes! Ever since my epiphany, it’s inspired me to think of all the other gifts in my life. Yes, like walking the dog, for instance. It seems every inspirational writer and speaker advises us not to take people and things for granted. Easy to say, but we all do it. It helps to look at them as gifts.
For me, yoga is another aspect of my spiritual journey (yes, in spite of the fact that I had such skewed secret ideas about it!), like meditation. I don’t write about it much lately because to me, it’s one of those things I just do (or don’t do) and don’t talk about a lot. But it’s so important. It can be a kind of prayer, with the right intention.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Oh what a post! Yoga is a gift, deep one.
Of all the very happy things that I have found by moving here, one sad one is that there seems to be no good yoga place in these parts.
I miss it and it was very important to my spiritual self and physical self. I have been praying about this a lot lately.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
could yoga be anything else but?
GF, I received a gift this morning from a former student….see my latest post at LYJ….;)
April 28th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Linda, No, it could not be anything but, and I would have agreed with that even last week–and yet. And yet, there can be things under the surface muddying the reality, creating tensions that are not conscious. I suspect it takes years to work this stuff out of most of us. Every time I have one of these little breakthroughs, I’m a little freer!
Will go read your post. . .
April 28th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I had a similar revelation in my practice recently! Especially when I think of all the people who can’t practice yoga… it feels like such a gift.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Yeah!!! it is a real gift isn’t it. Life has so many wonderful gifts, if we would only just stop for a few seconds and enjoy them all!!! and yoga is the real gift because it makes me focus and pay attention on and off the mat.
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:00 am
Thank you for the lovely post & insight, garten–& yes it is yes it is!
I know what you mean–I had a similar ‘epiphany’ though on a much lower level late last year when I realised that walking–even with pain–is a major gift. Thank you for the reminder!